


no you don't need to be careful

by xieagle



Series: Coffee Shop Soundtrack [1]
Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: 18x18, Boys Kissing, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Soulmate AU, and ashton is a selective mute, and he works for a coffee shop, and i'm cheesy as hell, and studies art, artist!luke, because again i like fluff, because i like fluff, because that pairing is to die for, coffee shop au too, flowercrown!calum, for lashton, it's just fluff and i don't even know, like don't read it, luke goes to uni, malum is kind of side sorry, mute!ashton, punk!michael, soulmate, this actually really sucks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-09
Updated: 2015-01-09
Packaged: 2018-03-06 18:40:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3144512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xieagle/pseuds/xieagle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>ashton irwin hasn't spoken in a large number of years. he works in the coffee shop his foster parents own, and is constantly dealing with the idea that no one will ever truly understand and accept him.</p><p>luke goes to university, studying art. he loves going to the local coffee shop to find a caffeine boost and to meet his friends, michael and calum, the two he is rather jealous of. he says it's a good boost for his muse, but never says why.</p>
            </blockquote>





	no you don't need to be careful

**Author's Note:**

> not sure what to say here. lowercase is intended because i'm lazy af and didn't want to write a paper for school.  
> and this isn't edited, so sorry for any typos.  
> title from magic man's song it all starts here
> 
> comments and kudos appreciated

afternoon sunlight filtered through the windows of the local coffee shop. The smell of the most recent brew filled the entire space, and just seemed to make the atmosphere so worth it. the beams of light hit against honey curls and warm hazel eyes that seemed to twinkle even brighter than the morning's star. the shop buzzed with a quiet din - just the right amount that it wasn't eerie, but it also wasn't distracting. hushed words were passed across the table in the right corner where a pair of boys were sitting, papers were shuffled as a business man in his thirties worked on his assignment for the day, the coffee maker held a near-constant hum, and every so often the bell above the door would ring. in reality, it seemed that only one being in the entire room made no noise. 

ashton. 

he hadn't spoken to anyone in years, and had long since perfected even his steps to make as little noise as possible. it was as if his one purpose in life was to go as unnoticed as possible. 

the boy stood at the cash register and moved from his spot to fill orders as the afternoon changed to evening and the sunlight began to turn scarlet instead of yellow. he was the only one working the shift. there had never been a strong need to hire anyone else, the owners, his foster parents had decided years ago. they had their "son" and that was enough. he was enough. more than enough. 

ashton, well. he wasn't so sure.

still, he did what he had been taught with no argument. sure, he could sign to them that sometimes it was a little overwhelming. that while he loved the coffee shop with all of his heart, it wasn't all that he wanted. that is, if he didn't have one thing in particular stopping him. 

in a way, it was odd. that the coffee-boy, as he had come to be known by the regulars, had the image of a cup of coffee on the inside of his wrist. there was a point to the marks. in one way or the other, it was meant to lead the person to the other they were to be with forever. yes, a soulmate. the only other person who would ever have a coffee cup that matched ashton's perfectly on the inside of their wrist. 

though he wasn't sure how, ashton would meet his soulmate in a way that had to do with coffee. that was why he never argued against the long shifts he was asked to take. why he still dealt with the occasional customer who happened to be a pain in his ass because the amount of time he had been asked to make some ridiculous drink he had never even heard of before, let alone knew how to make. it was a coffee shop, after all. not a shop to buy "a sunrise caramel chocolate double mocha latte with extra peppermint and hold the chocolate shavings." no, that just didn't fly with ashton. 

he was fortunate though. while he stared out of the window and waited for that special person, he had been able to notice quite a few things about the other people who entered the shop. like the little girl who always had her hair tied into two pigtails and her mother who led her along by the hand every first monday of the week and every tuesday after that. or the cute couple who came in at least twice a week. where the girl would order a hot chocolate and the boy a coffee with cream and sugar. for the regulars, it had come to the point of familiarity where majority knew that ashton did, in fact, not speak and was not being rude. in return, he had memorized their orders to a point where all they had to do was walk in and smile and he would nod and walk to start their order. all in all, it was a peaceful existence and majority of the time it was heaven.

now, if only the waiting wasn't bad. 

ashton was by no means desperate to meet his soulmate. yet, he also craved the other person as much as his lungs did air. 

he wanted to know everything possible. what did they look like? did they actually even care for coffee? or were they more of a tea or hot chocolate person?

most importantly, though, he constantly found himself wondering whether or not they would be able to understand. 

understand that ashton didn't speak. understand why he didn't speak. whether or not they would understand him in a way no one ever really had before.

most just accepted his muteness as it was, but he wanted so much more.

\-- 

music blared through the room as a pair of boys were tangled together. one had red hair, obviously dyed, and the other had dark hair with a few unnatural blonde streaks. their lips were met in a kiss. it was soft, it held quite a bit of feeling, and it was completely their own. it spoke volumes of feelings that their language just didn't allow for. 

a third figure was held out from their own world, and was instead engrossed in his own. the blonde sat at the desk of his dorm room, brow furrowed in frustration as he gripped his pencil tighter and tighter with each passing moment. 

the song playing was by greenday, and it was just hitting the second chorus when the tallest boy - the blonde - pushed back from the desk and stood up with a frustrated sigh. "i'm done," he announced, annoyance dripping from each word bitterly. 

the darker-haired boy was the one to hear his friend through the mist, and he pulled away from his boyfriend, brown eyes glinting with a sense of worry. "you don't sound happy about it," he pointed out, ignoring the whine that came from his boyfriend at the loss of mouth to mouth contact. his head was tilted slightly to one side, hair ruffled from the fingers that had been running through the locks not five minutes ago. 

"because i'm fucking not, cal," the blonde - luke - answered, stretching his back and letting out a satisfied noise at the feeling. after having been seating hunched over the desk in the same position for nearly two hours, his spine felt twisted in all the wrong places. at the questioning look that was sent from warm chocolate eyes, luke sighed once more. "because i'm not really done, i'm just... it's coming out awful and i think i need to restart if i want a chance at a decent grade."

this time it was the redhead's time to speak, expression slightly amused, despite his friend's frustration. "what were you drawing, anyway?"

luke rolled his eyes, snatching his phone from the speaker dock it had been on for the time he had been at work, cutting off the song. "for the assignment i'm supposed to be doing a realistic pencil sketch with proper shading. it's supposed to be easy, but i just can't find anything i actually i want to draw," he explained, walking over to the pair and taking the empty space on the couch. seeing as calum was in michael's lap, there was plenty of room for the three of them. with that, he closed his icy blue eyes, rubbing his right temple with his fingertips. "and i guess it doesn't help that i'm completely tired. i need caffeine," he muttered.

in response, calum stood up and smoothed out his shirt. michael looked up at him, confused, and luke glanced in his direction when the boy spoke again. "then let's go."

"cal, where? be a little specific, babe," michael returned, but stood up when offered a hand to do as so. 

a giggle was the first answer, and the other two were left to glance at each other, wondering whether or not the boy had lost his mind. "let's go get some coffee, duh."

luke had to admit, it wasn't an awful idea. it was by no means rare that they would go to the local coffee shop just a mile off-campus to get a boost. it was relaxing, and a good place to study as well. it also helped that it had been the place that michael and calum had met and later where they had gone on their first official date. they'd been inseparable since. in a way, luke was jealous of them. though he had never told them as such, but he was most certainly jealous. _he_ was the one with a coffee cup on his wrist, not them. he didn't know what they actually did have, but he had a good feeling it wasn't anything that had to do with coffee.

"fine," he answered at last, finding his feet and standing once again. they were just out of the door when michael suddenly ran back in before the door could close all of the way. a moment later, he came out with a flower crown that without a doubt was calum's. it had probably been put out of the way when they started kissing on the couch, only to be remembered now.

calum smiled brightly and thanked michael through a peck to a lips. 

yeah, luke envied them quite a bit.

luckily, though, soon enough they were on the move, and luke allowed himself to zone out against the tender looks his two best friends shot one another. even though he wanted to hate them for being so hopelessly in love, he just couldn't find it in him. 

\--

ashton had to say that he was quite tired. to the extent that he had pulled a stool up to the counter on his side and taking a seat. for whatever reason, the day had just been particularly tired. with it being just him, it had been more than enough work to keep him busy the entire day. his foster parents were out for the week. to where, he couldn't really remember. it was often these days that they went out for little trips and vacations together for a week or a weekend, leaving ashton to keep watch over the shop. 

while it was great that they trusted the young boy, it was tiring. not to mention slightly lonely. it wasn't often that he came across anyone who could read sign language fluently as they could. and, honestly, he had been in no mood to write down his entire half of a conversation for the other party to read. so he just went about his job, managing to smile to the regulars and tolerate the rest. 

he had just been doodling when the bell rang again. bored and tired hazel eyes looked up as a trio of boys entered the shop. he considered two of the three more than regulars, and the tall blonde their friend who also came along often. he had never had a conversation with the blonde, but had with the two other boys. his knew that the one with red hair and tattooed arms was michael and that the other, calum, was his boyfriend. he did enjoy when they did come, as calum was going to university and minored in sign language. he had to say, it was always refreshing to see. every now and then he even helped the boy out with the motions of his hands while michael would watch with a fond look on his face. hell, ashton could even remember the day they had met. it had been obvious that there had been some invisible force between them, and it was easy to tell that they were meant to be.

it gave ashton hope that he would have that as well one day.

from where he was doodling an image forever imprinted in his mind, he could hear calum's chipper voice asking the others what they wanted before skipping over with a cheery. "hey ashton."

ashton looked up from his drawing with a smile and greeted in return before signing again, asking what he wanted. 

instead of signing, calum spoke, voice as light and happy as always. it certainly matched the boy's overall innocent and boyish look, literally topped with the flowers that sat atop his head. "a tea with sugar, a coffee and-" a slight pause broke his words as he turned back to where the others had settled in "-luke, what did you want again?" he asked the blonde loudly. 

_luke._ interesting. 

what was more interesting, though, was how the blonde sat. though they had only walked in a moment or so ago, the blonde had a sketchbook opened and seemed to be drawing with a vigor. for whatever reason, it interested ashton, and he couldn't help but wonder what the boy could possibly be drawing.

the boy's voice made ashton's eyes widen. it was deeper than the fucking ocean. that was for sure. "i told you i wanted a coffee, cal. two sugars," he answered back just as loudly as his friend.

with a nod, calum turned back to the boy at the register. "did you get that?"

ashton could only nod dumbly, feeling his stomach fill with butterflies. no, more than that. it was birds. huge birds were flooding his stomach and making it do flips.

"great, thanks, ash!" with that, calum passed the proper payment over to the dumbstruck boy who moved through the motions almost robotically. 

then the boy was gone, and ashton had to literally shake his head to get rid of at least some of the fog before setting himself to work. within ten minutes he was balancing the drinks expertly and passed one to each of the boys, along with the paper their order was written down. he placed the paper down next to luke, unaware that it had been the same scrap he had been doodling on prior. and even less aware that the boy would recognize the image just as well as ashton.

still, the taller boy was in such a focused state that he didn't even seem to notice when his order was set down in front of him. his brow was furrowed once again, and his lip ring pulled between his teeth thoughtfully as he sketched.

\--

it was over a half an hour later that luke finally seemed to come back from his own world. michael and calum were no longer sitting at the same table, and when blue eyes searched the room for them, he was unsure as to where they actually went. in fact, there were very few that still remained. the boy at the counter was still there, doodling on his pad of paper and a few other patrons were scattered here or there. flipping his book closed, luke stood up and walked over to the counter. he didn't even have to say anything when the boy looked up and tilted his head to one side. and in that moment luke swore his heart could have stopped. the boy was gorgeous. his curly hair was ruffled slightly, as if he had run his own fingers through it several times throughout the day. his eyes were big and bright, shining despite the moonlight and starlight that was outside and the dim lights inside. all in all, he held the boyish and innocent look that calum did, but pulled it off in a way that luke found far cuter than his friend did. however, there was also something sensitive. as if warning that something bad had happened in his past.

"uh - hi," luke started before mentally smacking himself. no, that was not how he wanted to start out. "do you know where my friends went?" he asked with a subtle nod. better.

the boy seemed to suddenly come to alertness and nodded once. he held up one finger, gesturing to tell luke to wait for a moment. with that, he flipped to a clean page of his pad and wrote a string of quick words. _yeah, they tried to tell you but i guess you didn't listen._ he showed this to luke before writing once more. _they went to the other room where it's a little more quiet. they do that a lot._ a shrug.

the words confused the blue-eyed boy. "other room...?" he asked at last, eyes widening slightly as his imagination ran wild. 

the curly-haired boy smiled in amusement, shaking his head. _not like that. it's the room some people go to for studying. or making out. whichever._

at that, luke let out a laugh and seemed to relax. "so they're still here?" a nod. "okay, thanks." he took a step back then, but hesitated, pulling his lip ring between his lower lip again thoughtfully. "i hope this isn't too personal but... can you talk?"

the boy seemed taken aback at the question and blushed darkly, surprise evident in his expression. _i don't._ he wrote at last before looking down at the counter. in return, luke hummed reassuringly. "it's okay," he murmured, though unsure if he had been heard. with that, he turned on his heel and returned to the table. 

there sat his coffee, which was surprisingly still warm. underneath it was a single piece of paper. curious, luke picked it up and glanced it over. the words at the top merely spelled out the order in handwriting already recognizable to him. underneath it, though, was a simple drawing that confused him. putting the cup of coffee down once more, he quickly removed the few bracelets that were more often than not located around his wrist. there was nearly the exact same image forever marked into his skin. confusion was the overriding force that ran through his bloodstream as he stood and made his way back towards the boy at the counter, this time too fast for the boy to even react before he spoke. "what is this?" the boy blushed darkly, eyes wide. then he shook his head, not looking at luke but instead the paper in his hand. "where have you seen this before?" he demanded, tone harsh but edged with confusion instead of anger. still, the boy flinched before moving one hand to the sleeve of the sweatshirt he wore. luke could see him swallow thickly before pulling the fabric up just enough for luke to see his wrist in full view.

and he swears he most certainly _did not_ almost faint, no matter what his soulmate would argue.

instead, he gently reached forward and pushed his sleeve up further, eyes widened to the size of saucers. "it's you..." he murmured to himself before looking at the lad and noticing that his eyes were looking at luke's arm which hung at his side. nervously, the shorter male stood from the stool he had been sitting on and reached over the counter. his hand curled around luke's wrist and brought it clearly into his sight. only then did he look up at luke, and he didn't have to speak for luke to know what he was thinking. 

"what's your name?" luke asked at last, his voice quiet, as if speaking any louder would break the moment and it would all be over. 

a pencil was brought across the paper, spelling out the prettiest name luke had ever thought possible. _ashton_

without speaking, slowly, the taller of the two leaned across the barrier between them and pressed a kiss to his soulmate's lips. 

and it was then that he found out that michael hadn't been kidding that kissing one's soulmate is like going to heaven. his stomach flipped, his heart beat faster than ever thought possible, and fireworks exploded behind his eyelids.

it was quick and gentle in hindsight, but it was best kiss either boy had ever had before, and when they pulled away, their eyes were bright. it was as if they were no longer two separate people, but two halves of one whole. which was the complete truth. 

"it's okay if you don't talk," luke said at last, breaking the trance of silence. "i understand. but if you do ever want to talk, i'd love to be the person to hear you."

and in that minute, ashton knew that he'd finally found the one he'd been looking for. the one who would understand him and not just tolerate, but accept.

**Author's Note:**

> talk to me on tumblr: xieagle  
> i am taking prompts


End file.
